PACE CANADIAN SQUASH CLASSIC
November 15-19th, 2004
BCE Place, Toronto, Ontario
Lincou Cuts Off the Power
|
| |
Final:
[2]Thierry Lincou (FRA) d [7] Jonathon Power (MONT/Que) (9), 11-10
(3-1), 6, (7), 8 (80m)
Canada’s Jonathon Power(MONT/Que) came close to winning his fourth PACE Canadian Squash Classic at the BCE Centre in Toronto, but it was world No. 2, Thierry Lincou of France, who took home the silverware, winning 3-2 after playing a cool, calculated match.
Lincou is a muscular, tough player who likes to occupy the center of the court, causing his opponents to run around him. Time and time again Power appealed to the referee that his opponent was not clearing the ball. But the truth was that Lincou’s advisers had obviously worked out a strategy to beat the charismatic Canadian. Lincou volleyed everything he could, worked both front corners and did to Power what Power normally does to his opponents.
Lincou was particularly deadly in the right front and constantly had Power in all sorts of trouble. Meanwhile Power’s magic touch, that had been thrilling the crowds all week, deserted him and he made more errors in one night than he had throughout the entire tournament.
Power took the first game, leveraging a tentative start by his opponent, but started the second game with two errors in the first three rallies and from that point Lincou led the game. Power was suffering pain in his left foot, which Lincou had trodden on early in the first game, but still managed to send the game into a tiebreak. He was twice denied lets and Lincou took the 20-minute game 13-11.
In the third game, Power was feeling his thigh and it looked as though the injury curse was about to rear its head. Power played tentatively and, not surprisingly, the game was over in seven minutes, 11-6 for Lincou. Power was given some treatment for a pulled right quadriceps in the break.
But Jonathon Power is always full of surprises, and he started the fourth game with some fine winners. At 2-2, Lincou was incensed when the referee called one of his balls down. He argued at length and virtually pushed the self-destruct button. With his concentration gone, Lincou allowed Power to forge ahead to 6-3 and although he pulled it back to 7-7, Power was in his stride, his touch returned and he won the game handily, 11-7, to tie the match.
The fifth game seesawed back and forth: Lincou led 3-1, and then Power led 8-7. The next rally was critical and Power gave the point away on a backhand cross-court that hit the tin. Lincou hit two winners to get to match ball. Power finished the match with another error. Bitterly disappointed at losing in front of a very packed, partisan crowd, Power said that it was hard to lose in front of his greatest supporters.
“I couldn’t produce my form consistently tonight and Lincou played extremely well. There’s not much else to say,” Power said accepting the loser’s check.
Lincou thought it was one of his best performances this year.
“I kept to my game plan. Keep him in the back before going short. You can’t attack too early with Power. I was waiting for him to put me in the front of the court rather, than me put him there,” Lincou said. Of his collapse in the fourth game Lincou claimed: “I was sure my ball was up and I got angry. Tension was very high.”
This is Lincou’s first Canadian title and bodes well for his return to the number one spot in the world rankings.
Semis:
[7] Jonathon Power (MONT/Can) d [10 ] Anthony Ricketts (AUS) 11-10 (2-0), 6, (10-11 (2-0)), (10-11 (4-2)), 2 (91m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) d [12] Graham Ryding (TOR/Can) (8), 6, 7, 6 (59m)
In the best match of the PACE Canadian Squash Classic, Canada’s Jonathon Power (MONT/Can) outlasted Anthony Ricketts of Australia to win 3-2 in the semifinals, after five games of superb, skilled and dramatic squash. By reason of age, Ricketts (the younger player) should have walked off the court as victor after 91 minutes, but Power clearly demonstrated that he can still put in the necessary hard work to get the job done.
They started the first game with long patient 60 shot rallies and Power hinted that he was prepared to do whatever was necessary. Power led from the beginning but Ricketts stayed the pace, never allowing Power to relax. Even with Power at game ball, 10-8, Ricketts remained calm, forced two errors from Power to bring on a tiebreak. Power took the first point on a Ricketts error and then hit a superb cross-court which had the Australian diving in vain to get it back. After 23 hard minutes, Power won 11-10.
Power opened up in the second game, constantly taking Ricketts to the front and making him work. The game was over in 13 minutes, 11-6, for Power and when he ran to an 8-3 lead in the third game, it looked as though he was home free.
As he did in his previous match, Power became hesitant, allowing Ricketts back in and then made a series of unforced errors to allow Ricketts to catch and force another tiebreak. In full flow, Ricketts won the game 11-10.
Power led the fourth game, but once more Ricketts, who was now going short and hitting some fine drops shots, ran out the winner 10-8. Power was looking tired, while Ricketts seemed to gain a second wind.
But the effort required to come back from two games down was too much for the young Australian and Power, sensing the fatigue, played tight squash and used his drop shots to superb effect, winning the final game 11-2 in just eight minutes.
Ricketts had mixed feelings about his performance: “I felt in the last three weeks that my form has returned,” he explained, referring to his long layoff due to a knee problem. “But, I did get tired because coming back from two games down requires a huge amount of physical effort.”
Power was not pleased at having to play a hard ninety-one minute match the day before a final, but the smile on his face showed that he was pleased with his performance.
“That was the best that Ricketts has played for months and I was just happy to be able to wear him down physically. I got a little tired in the third and went through bouts of fatigue, but I knew he was more tired than I was. I have never seen him not run for a ball, so I knew he was hurting. In the fifth, I just went back to my game and made him twist and turn,” Power said, adding that he was happy with his form and was looking to do well at the World Open in Qatar in two weeks.
In the second semifinal of the PACE Canadian Squash Classic, Canada’s Graham Ryding started off the evening in fine form, hoping to create history with the first all-Canadian final at a major PSA event. He showed that he could not only stay with Thierry Lincou of France, a former world number one, but could he could outplay him too. Lincou, now world No. 2, is favored to win the tournament now that the top seed, Lee Beachill is out. Ryding, ranked 20 is a player with a lot of experience and clearly did not let the ranking difference effect him.
Ryding played solidly to take the first game 11-8, giving the partisan crowd hopes of seeing two Canadian victories in a single evening. But as Ryding admitted later, in order to beat the accomplished Lincou, “you have to play perfect squash”.
In the second game, Ryding was less than perfect and Lincou took full advantage of the center court, allowing him to dominate the game. Ryding’s length was inconsistent and Lincou stepped in to cut the ball short. Ryding’s cross-courts were not wide enough and Lincou stepped up the pressure. The large crowd maintained vocal support for Ryding and gave long ovations to some of the excellent rallies in which both players showed exceptional athleticism.
But, Lincou never relinquished his hold on the second game, which he won 11-6 and continued to dominate play, winning the third and fourth games.
“I won the first game because I took control of the T where Lincou likes to be,” Ryding said later. “I felt I played OK but he’s a tough competitor and you have to play perfect squash to beat him and I didn’t—I made a couple of mistakes. With Lincou, that’s a few too many.”
Quarterfinals:
Anthony Ricketts (AUS) d [1] Lee Beachill (ENG) 4, 6, 2
[7] Jonathon Power (CAN) d [3] Peter Nicol (ENG) 7, 7, 2 (42m)
Graham Ryding (CAN) d [Q] Paul Price (AUS) 8, 6, 7-0 ret. (46m)
[2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) d [8] Joseph Kneipp (AUS) (7), 11-10 (4-2), 5-0 ret. (39m)
The PACE Canadian Squash Classic, November 15-19, 2004, was held in the Allen Lambert Galleria at BCE Place. The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada is the recipient charity for the 2004 tournament.
|
| |
|
